[quote]Airtruth wrote:
It looks like everybody is pretty much saying they aren’t really worth it, but it’s a cool exercise.
[/quote]
Nothing will get comments and stares at the gym like pistols and weighted chinups.
[quote]forbes wrote:
roybot wrote:
I agree that pistols aren’t the best choice for building leg mass.
The reason being that your ability to do pistols will be affected by your level of balance/ stabilisation: I can do at least four more reps doing weighted pistols vs. unweighted (in theory the weighted variation should be harder, so obviously balance and stabilisation are huge factors in being able to do them at high reps and with good form).
I think the main advantage to using pistols while training for hypertrophy is that they can help to improve leg drive for squat movements.
Here are a few other ways to spot yourself on full ROM pistols (besides holding on to a support, that is):
-
Do the movement against a wall or a door. A door would be better, as your back should be ‘sliding’ up and down the surface.
-
Instead of holding one leg out in front of you, keep the heel of the foot of your extended leg on the floor (this is the easiest option).
This thread’s not for me, but I just learned something 
Thank you
[/quote]
No problem! I’d posted that info already on two separate threads, but I thought that I’d throw it back up again, since it seemed relevant. I came up with the progressions myself (although I’m not claiming to have pioneered them. I mean, it’s inevitable that someone has thought of them before).
I haven’t seen them anywhere else though, and I found them to be a good alternative to starting with partials, which seems to be the common approach for people that can’t do many full ROM pistols - they just seem to drastically shorten the learning curve. Probably because balance and stability aren’t such a limiting factor, due to the added support of either the wall or your extended leg (depending on which progression you use).